App Store Going Episodic?

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In App Purchasing opens door to microtransactions within games and apps.

By Levi Buchanan

Is episodic content the future of iPhone gaming? At today's iPhone 3.0 event in Cupertino, Calif., Apple announced the new In App Purchase feature that will allow content creators to charge for additional content within their apps. The new feature is a result of developers wanting additional purchase models beyond the one-time purchase that currently defines the App Store.

The feature opens up a lot of possibilities for pricing models. For example, a developer could release a game for free to entice users, and then start charging for extra content once hooked. Extra levels or character content would be priced by the developer, but for this to work, sellers will need to be reasonable. It's important to note that free is still free inside the App Store and if a game or application has hooks for paid content inside of it, the user will not be charged just for trying out the free app.

Apple also announced peer-to-peer connectivity today, which has major implications for gaming. Now, instead of having to go through an entire network, gamers can seek local devices out over Bluetooth through automatic discovery. However, this feature does not work over Wi-Fi (bummer) and there is no pairing of devices. This will certainly curb piracy efforts, though.